Cleaning apparatus.



T. J. & D. M. WINANS;

OLBANING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION rum) AUG. 25. 1909.

1,003,844. Patented Sept. 19,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTORS 3W SW' M Mk5: h. \WW

ATTORNEY T. J. & D. M. WINANS.

OLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION 111.1111 AUG. 26, 1909.

1,003,844. Patented Sept. 19,1911.

INVENTORS,

min

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

THOMAS J. WINANS AND DANIEL M. WINANS. OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGN-ORS TO THE WINANS MACHINE COMPANY, OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, A. COR-PORATION OF NEW YORK.

CLEANING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 25', 1909. Serial No. 514,495.

NANS and DANIEL M. WVINANS, citizens of the United States, residing atBingham- 5 ton, in the county of Broome, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in CleanmgApparatus,

- f of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning by the employment of anair pump arranged to draw air and dust into a col-- lector wherein thedust is gathered.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this characterwhich is portable, which is eflicient, reliable and economical inoperation, which is simple in construction and can therefore bemanufactured at a low cost, and which is convenient to use.

The invention resides in the construction of the collecting devicewhereby practically all of the dust is taken out of the air before thelatter is allowed to escape, and

whereby the dust collected may be readily disposed of.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the apparatuspartly in elevation and partly in section, Fig. 2 is a top view of theapparatus, Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the belt-tightener and theoperating device therefor, and Fig. 4 is a detail view in section of aportion of the collector.

Referring to these drawings, 1 indicates a base mounted on suitablerollers 2, and

' .1 having an electric motor 3 and an exhauster 4L secured thereon. Theshaft of the motor is provided with a pulley 5 and the shaft of theexhauster with a pulley 6, and a belt 7 runs on these pulleys totransmit rotary motion from the motor to the exhauster.

The belt 7 is of such length that when disposed as shown in Fig. 1 it isloose enough upon the pulleys to permit of considerable slip, andtherefore the motor 3 can run 6 with its pulley 5 slipping freely underthe belt. The belt, however, is retained upon the pulley 5 by flangesprovided at the sides of the pulley. A belt-tightener is provided,however, whereby the belt 7 may be caused to grip the pulleys 5 and 6itightly enough to effect a substantial rejduction in the amount ofthisslip. The Lbelt-tightener consists of an idle pulley 8 imounted upona shaft carried by a link 9 jwhich is pivotally connected at its lowerend to one end of a pivotally mounted lever 10.

Mounted upon the base 1 is a member 11 forming a support for thecollector and the connecting passage-way from the collector to theexhauster at. A portion 12 of the member 11 is of tubular form as shownin opening of the exhauster 4. In the bottom of the member 11 is acircular opening the wall of which is increased in length by a flange13. In line with this opening is an 1 1 on the interior of a tubularupwardly extending portion 15 of the member 11. A cylindrical piston 16fits snugly within this opening and is adapted to move vertisure withinthe member and'the collector which is connected thereto. The piston 16has two depending cars 17 carrying a pin 18. This pin passes through aslot formed adapted to rock upon a short shaft 19 which extends betweenthe legs 20 formed on the member 11 and by which the memher is securedto the base 1. The cylindriof slots 21 lying between the flanges l3 and1 1. In the base of the piston 16 is an opening 22 leading totheatmosphere. This opening is normally closed by a ball valvetom of thepiston 16 about the opening 22 being formed to provide a seat for theball. 23. The interior of the tubular portion 15 above the flange 14: isformed to provide cured. The exterior of the tubular portion 15 istapered as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The construction of the collector is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4:. Itconsists of a ends to better enable it to resist external pressure. Thetank has a body portion 26 and a detachable cover 27. The edge of thebody portion is turned over a stiffening wire 28 and to the edge of thecover 27 is secured Patented Sept. 19,1911.

' Fig. 3 and its end is connected to the inlet opening of the same sizeformed by a web cally therein in response to changes of prcsin the endof the lever 10, this lever being '1 cal piston 16 is provided with aplurality member 23, the upper surface of the bot-' a shoulder uponwhich a screen 21 is se- 1 tank of cylindrical form having dome-shaped asheet-metal strip 29 adapted to enter slightly within the body portionof the tank 26; the metal of the cover 27 at the edge thereof is curledoutwardly so as to provide between it and the strip 29 a seat for acompressible packing ring 30. When the cover is placed upon the tank thestrip 29 fits snugly within the body of the tank and the packing ring 30is compressed against the stiffened upper edge of the tank so that theentrance of air at the joint between the tank and its cover' isprecluded. The cover is held tightly in this relation by a bail 31pivotally mounted upon the tank 26 and having a handle 32 mountedthereon so as to be free to rotate. In the handle 32 is acircumferential groove. Secured to the top of the cover 27 is a handle33 of such height that when the bail 31 is brought to an up rightposition the handle 32 will receive the member 33 in the groove thereinand will hold the cover firmly in place. The handle or member 33 is bentas shown in Fig. 4 so as to retain the bail 31 in this position.

Secured to the bottom of the tank 26 is a flanged sleeve 34: the openingthrough which is tapered to correspond with the taper of the tubularportion 15 of the member 11. Secured to this sleeve 34 is a sheet-metaltube 35 which extends upwardly through the tank almost to the topthereof. A deflector 36 is secured to the tube 35 at about the middle ofthe latter. The air and dust are drawn into the tank at a point oppositethis deflector through a connector 37 secured to the side wall of thetank and arranged to facilitate the connection of a flexible tubethereto. Above the deflector 36 the tube 35 is provided with a pluralityof openings 38. The top of the tube 35 is closed by a detachablesheet-metal cap 39. Over the upper perforated end of the tube 35 is aremovable sleeve 40 of filtering material, its lower end entering thedeflector 36. The top of this sleeve is closed. The filtering materialwhich we prefer to employ in making the sleeve 40 is cotton-batting insheet form, as

this is very inexpensive and forms an ex-- cellent filtering sleevewhich will take up even the finest dust, and at the same time, permitthe air to pass freely therethrough. Preferably a piece of commercialcottonbatting cut to the proper size is wound about the upper end of thetube 35 over the perforations 38, its lower edge extending within thedeflector 36. The upper edge of this sleeve 40 is turned inwardly overthe cap 39 and preferably a circular sheet-metal plate 41 is placed overthe upper end of the sleeve 40 so as to hold the inwardly turned edge ofthe latter properly in place, and preclude the entrance of air at thecenter thereof.

It will be seen that the apparatus is portable so that it is adapted foruse in a house- .ho d.

In operating the cleaner, electric connection is made from the motor toa lamp socket or wall receptacle. When the current is turned on themotor will begin to rotate and will drive the exhauster. Prior tobeginning the operation, the pressure within the tank 26 is atmosphericpressure, and therefore the belt 7. is loose upon the motor andexhauster pulleys, since the belt-tightener pulley 8 rests with verylittle weight upon the belt 7. This allows the belt to slip freely uponthe pulley 5 so that the rotor of the exhauster is rotated at low speedas compared to the speed of the motor. In this way the motor is broughtup to speed without consuming an excessive amount of current, andtherefore without the liability of blowing a fuse in the motor circuit.At this time the exhauster will be drawing air through the cleaningdevice, connected to the tank by the connector 37, the tank 26 and thetubular member 12. Now, if the cleaning device is applied to a surfaceto be cleaned the air will not be drawn so freely through the tank andtherefore the pressure within the tank will be lowered. This will causethe piston 16 to move upwardly in the chamber in which it is located,

thus rocking the lever 10 and drawing the pulley 8 downwardly so as totighten the belt 7 upon the motor and exhauster pulleys and reduce theslip of the belt upon the pulley 5. This increases the speed at whichthe exhauster is driven and correspondingly increases the suction of theexhauster. The automatically operated belt-tightener thus serves as anautomatic clutch for connecting the motor and the exhauster in such amanner that the speed of the exhauster relative to the speed of themotor is automatically regulated in accordance with the work of cleaningperformed by the apparatus.

The air and dust are drawn through the cleaning device and the connector37 to the interior of the tank 26, wherein the deflector 36 serves todirect the larger and heavier particles downwardly into the bottom ofthe tank 26. The air laden with the finer particles passes upwardlywithin the tank to the filter 40 through which the air passes and whichcollects the finer particles of dust. The air passes through theperforations 38 to the interior of the tube 35, then downwardly throughthe screen 24, the slots 21 in the piston 16 and the tubular member 12to the exhauster. If at any time the passage of air through theapparatus is so obstructed as to cause the motor 3 to be overloaded, thesuction of the exhauster will so reduce the pressure within the tank asto cause the ball valve 23 to be raised slightly from its seat, and inthis case air will pass freely from the atmosphere through the opening22 so as to afford a relief for the abnormal conditions, and thusprotect the motor and the circuit leadin thereto against injury due tothe passage 0 too large a current therethrough.

The continued use of the apparatus results in the collection of dust anddirt in the bottom of the tank around the tube 35 supporting thedeflector 36, and when a large amount of dirt has been collected thetank should be emptied. This may be readily done by merely lifting thetank from its seat upon the tapered sleeve 15. This method of mountingthe tank permits of its ready removal while aifording an air-tightconnection at the joint between the sleeves 34 and 15. When the tank hasbeen removed to the place desired for dumping the dirt the bail 31 maybe turned from over the cover and the cover removed, whereupon the dirtcollected in the bottom of the tank may be dumped out. The filter 40 maythen be removed and burned as the dust collected by the filter is sofine that its removal from the filter could hardly be effected. A filter40 made of cotton-batting is so inexpensive, and a new one may be soreadily supplied, thatwe deem it better to burn a filter which has beenused until it is filled with dust rather than to try to remove the dustfrom the filter.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new therein and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a cleaning apparatus, a collector comprising an uprightcylindrical member having an opening in the lower end thereof, atapering tubular member mounted in said opening and serving to removablysupport the collector, a tube mounted on the collector and extendingupwardly within the same a substantial distance, said tube being ofsmall diameter compared to the diameter of the collector to provide freespace between the tube and the wall of the collector for the collectionof dust, a deflector mounted upon the tube a substantial distance abovethe bottom of the collector, said cylindrical memberhaving an inletopening opposite the deflector, and said tube havin a plurality ofperforations in the cylindrlcal wall thereof above the deflector, andfibrous material wound upon the perforated portion of the tube above thedeflector, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cleaning apparatus, a collector comprising an uprightcylindrical member having an opening in the lower end thereof, atapering tubular member mounted in said openin and serving to removablysupport the col ector, a tube mounted on the collector and extendingupwardly within the same a substantial distance, said tube being ofsmall diameter compared to the diameter of the collector to provide freespace between the tube and the wall of the collector for the collectionof dust, a deflector mounted upon the tube a substantial distance abovethe bottom of the collector, said cylindrical member having an inletopening opposite the deflector and said tube having a plurality ofperforations in the cylindrical wall thereof above the deflector, afilter comprising a sheet of fibrous material wound about the perforatedportion of said tube above the de flector, and a plate bearing upon andclosing the upper end of said cylindrical filter, substantially as setforth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 23rd day of August 1909.

THOMAS J. WINANS. DANIEL M. WINANS.

Witnesses:

H. J. GAYLonD, F. J. BAUMANN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. G.

